Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: 20th Anniversary Edition by Stephen Chbosky

326 reviews

lenorayoder's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I first read this book in high school and remember loving it. I decided to grab it from the library again because I was in the mood for something pensive and kind of sad and wanted to see if it held up as an adult. Boy, does it. This book is fantastic. Though the impact is different from when I was Charlie's age, this book is still so influential and offers so much with both its content and style. Weirdly, reading this book makes me feel inspired to write and like when I do so it will be better for having read this. Not that you could tell from the quality of this review!

I think this is one of those books you should definitely read at least once as a teen. As an adult I was definitely reacting differently to some moments -

for the love of god, why would you give a kid who's obviously having mental/emotional difficulties LSD! Even as a high school senior, you should know that's a no no

- but Chbosky and Charlie still draw me in. This book really elicits emotional reactions, and is best enjoyed on a quiet evening by yourself so you can really take your time to read between the lines and feel.

It's kind of ridiculous how many content warnings I just applied to this book, but I also think that's one of the reasons this is an important read for teens. That this book is written in the form of letters helps lower the intensity of these subjects/make them easier for the reader to handle, but things still get pretty emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Car accident, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

moomygy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

lumatasia98's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Self harm

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Drug use, Violence, and Car accident

cturn's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, and Outing

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content

leontyna's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

3.0

I say it rarely but the movie was much better. I feel like epistolary version of Charlie was really unbelievable and I didn't connect to any characters, they all felt pretty flat to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Violence

erinmsalmon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, and Car accident

soupnerd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content

leah08855's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Medical content

andst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I feel like this book really encaptures self-improvement during high school. How, at that age, we feel aimless, worthless, unlikable and inadequate. How we tirelessly look for a sense of belonging and how somehow it's never enough. It's depressing, stressful, and deeply relatable. 
Throughout the book Charlie experience a sense of hopelessness while he sees the world (and the people) around him break down into pieces, just to realize that he cannot do anything to fix them no matter how much he tries. All the characters come with their own set of problems and we can see how these problems consume Charlie completely, even if they don't belong to him. Which is something some of us can deeply relate to.
This book makes you feel seen and understood. It encourages you embrace those around you despite their flaws, because we are not perfect either. We are all trying to get through life one day at a time, might as well just do it along those you care for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Car accident and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide attempt

mack_urdaddy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Car accident

Minor: Child abuse